Forum: Careers & Assignments

How does one become an IP at Luke? Is the postion requested or given to?
A couple of the pilots that i talked to recently at an air show were FAIPs and said that the job was pretty rewarding and were glad they did it. I know that IPs at Luke are not FAIPs. Is the postion a good one to get or do pilots take it as a degrading one?

Thanks,
Viperman

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Not able to answer all of your questions, but do know that a few pilots once graduating from Luke as a student may return to be an instructor. Your question will be best answered by an IP or a pilot and I am not either. Just a maintainer...sorry.

Thanks for the reply falcon. I appreciate it very much.

Viperman,

Here's how it works. Once you go through Luke as a student, you get an assignment to some operational base. Normally it's about a 3 year assignment, unless you go to Korea. That tour is a year-long remote, and then you go to another operational base for 3 years. Once it's time to move from your first assignment, you submit your "wish list" to your commander. He rank orders everyone in the squadron who is eligible to move at that time, and then all the squadron commanders on the base get together and rank order all the pilots on base. That list (along with each pilot's wish list) gets sent up to Air Force Personnel Command, and they match everyone to the available assignments (which is a very complicated process).

The bottom line is that an assignment back to Luke is a very good assignment if you want to stay in the F-16 for another 3 years. There are very few Ops-to-Ops (meaning another 3 year operational F-16 tour) assignments for a given cycle (usually only about 8 or so), so those usually go to the number 1 guy at each base because he would be a candidate for Weapons School. Luke, since it's a training base, is not considered an operational assignment, but it's the next best thing. All you have to do to be eligible to go to Luke as an IP is to get a recommendation from your commander, and be a 4-ship flight lead 90 days prior to your report date at Luke. If you're interested in more information on how the assignment cycle works, check this link out: http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/ftrbmbr/F-16/f16.htm

Hope this helps!

Rexxxx

Rexxxx wrote:

Here's how it works. Once you go through Luke as a student, you get an assignment to some operational base. Normally it's about a 3 year assignment, unless you go to Korea. That tour is a year-long remote, and then you go to another operational base for 3 years. Once it's time to move from your first assignment, you submit your "wish list" to your commander. He rank orders everyone in the squadron who is eligible to move at that time, and then all the squadron commanders on the base get together and rank order all the pilots on base. That list (along with each pilot's wish list) gets sent up to Air Force Personnel Command, and they match everyone to the available assignments (which is a very complicated process).

The bottom line is that an assignment back to Luke is a very good assignment if you want to stay in the F-16 for another 3 years. There are very few Ops-to-Ops (meaning another 3 year operational F-16 tour) assignments for a given cycle (usually only about 8 or so), so those usually go to the number 1 guy at each base because he would be a candidate for Weapons School. Luke, since it's a training base, is not considered an operational assignment, but it's the next best thing. All you have to do to be eligible to go to Luke as an IP is to get a recommendation from your commander, and be a 4-ship flight lead 90 days prior to your report date at Luke. If you're interested in more information on how the assignment cycle works, check this link out: http://www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/ftrbmbr/F-16/f16.htm

Yet another reason to go Guard... You won't become an IP at Luke; but you do stay in an Ops unit for your entire career...

Thanks for the info and the link Rexxxx. Much appreciated.

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 25, 2003 - 10:03 PM Posts: 679

So Rexxxx, how'd you get Cannon? Jk. I have a few crew cheif friends there, probably in your squadron.

Actually, it was by choice. Everything at the time was pointing to Cannon as the place I should be, so it was an easy choice, and I haven't regretted it one bit. If you're able to get past the negative stuff that everyone says, it's really not a bad place to be. Yes, it's a small town, and there's not much to do, but what that lends itself to is a close knit community, and a good group of friends. There's good and bad wherever you go, you just have to make a conscious decision to focus on the good. Anyway, guess I got on my soapbox a little there and went a little Off Topic

Just my

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 25, 2003 - 10:03 PM Posts: 679

That's what I wanted to hear, they tell us the same thing. Where would you like to go next?

Not sure. Looking at doing a stint as an IFF or UPT IP to fill the Alpha tour square and then get back to the viper. We'll see. I'm on the current VML, so I should find out in the near future.

How would you go about becoming an aggressor pilot? Do you need a stint as an IP?

Gents,

I'm curently a Luke IP. Did the one assignment at Eielson and then right back to Luke. The top guy in my VML got another Ops assignment, and I got this Luke assignment. Been here about 2 years, and have found it to be a great job. The pace is infinitely slower than any ops unit. There are no pit and go's. You fly on average 3 days a week. I didn't think I'd like it at first, because all the flying is very basic. However, I have really enjoyed bringing a dude from a dumbass kid to a relatively decent wingman in 6 months. You get very good at the basics BFM/TI/BSA, but lose a lot of the higher level skills LFE / CAS / Buddy Lase Dive Glides, etc. You also instruct guys transitioning from other aircraft (i.e. Eagle dude going to aggressors, Former Hog guy becoming a Viper Wing King, etc). The greatest part is bringing a guy back from an Alpha tour and getting him re-checked in the Viper. You'll never see a happier guy than someone landing from his first BFM sortie after three years driving a Humvee as an ALO.

In the 310th, they do FAC-A upgrades as well as Targeting Pod work, so a lot of folks are attracted to that. You can also work with the Singapore and Taiwan squadrons, using IFF interogators and Aim-7s or honing those LANTIRN skills doing night TFR, self lase LGB's.

Unfortunately, it gets you neither ALPHA or Remote credit, so eveyone is on track for an Alpha or a Remote to Egypt/Kunsan after their Luke tour. Which is why I'm hunting for a guard job at the moment.

Psycho

Nice stuff. Thanks for the Reply psycho, from a no kidding viper dude at luke. Sounds like pretty fun stuff to me. Good luck searching for the guard job.

Sniper,
The aggressor jobs are just like getting any other assignment. You don't have to be an IP. From what I can tell, they are generally filled by guys who are at least remote complete. They are plussing up the aggressors at the moment, adding an Eagle squadron. I guess they're looking for some Viper guys to transition to the Eagle agressors to mix the force a little bit. Seems like a decent job, but you are only flying Red-Air tactics. No blue air stuff at all, and Air-to-Air only. From what I can tell, the Eagle guys that fly aggressor Vipers are proud of the fact they don't even know what the A-G button on the UFC is for.
Psycho

A lot of guys want to be aggressor pilots? and also I forgot to ask before, how come pilots dont go from one ops assignment to the next?

Forum: Careers & Assignments

IP's at Luke AFB